Belt buckle



March 5, 1957 L. BERNSTEIN ,783,517

BELT BUCKLE Filed Feb. 13, 1951 FIG. 3. 20 H05;

IN VEN TOR. Louls- BERNSTE l N M @ZW ATT RNEY$ BELT BUCKLE Louis Bernstein, New York, N. Y.

Application February 13, 1951, Serial No. 210,717

2 Claims. (Cl. 24-191) My invention relates to an improved buckle for belts and the like.

I provide a buckle which may be made in three parts: a first body member, a second body member and a clamping member. Optionally, I cover the first body member with cloth or other suitable material. These body members are annular in shape and are provided with flanges whereby they can be frictionally maintained in an interfitted position to form a disk-like buckle body.

I form upstanding lugs in said second body member, each said lug being hollow and having a base which is integral with an opening in the second body member. These lugs may be formed by a simple stamping operation or other suitable operation. In the same operation, I can form a hole in the side of each lug, these holes being opposed to each other.

I make the clamping member out of a single piece of stiff spring wire, by bending the wire to form a central bightand opposed clamping arms. These opposed arms are bent near their ends to form opposed end pivot portions, which may be readily inserted in the respective lug holes by temporarily bending the wire out of its normal shape.

I attach one end of a belt to the bight portion of said clamping member, and I extend the other end of' the belt between the clamping arms and the second body member, said clamping member being in an unclamped position. I then turn the clamping member about the axis of said arm end pivot portions, from said unclamped position, through a position in which the radially displaced clamping arms exert maximum tension on the body of the buckle (this being an unstable position), to a final clamped position in which said other end of the belt is clamped against said buckle body by said clamping arms and also by said bight portion.

The above construction and mode of operation of my improved buckle will be fully explained in the following description. It will be apparent that the buckle is economical to manufacture and is particularly suitable for use with womens cloth dress belts. The bearing lugs are relatively smooth and are not likely to press against the wearer so as to cause discomfort. The clamping member provides excellent clamping action and also is easily constructed and assembled.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from the following description, in conjunction with the annexed drawings, in which preferred embodiments are disclosed. The drawings are drawn to scale and show a preferred embodiment.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevational view showing my improved buckle applied to a belt, part of the belt being broken away;

Fig. 2 is an exploded elevational view of my improved buckle prior to assembly of the parts;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the assembled buckle, showing the clamp in raised position;

Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section, partly in elevation, through the buckle, showing one end of the belt fixed to the buckle and the other end of the belt in a posi tion to be clamped in place; and

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, showing the buckle in its clamping-position.

For convenience, the parts of my improved buckle are described with reference to their orientation as shown in Figs. 2-5, although it will be apparent that the buckle may be held in any position. As. is shown in the drawings, the buckle comprises first body member 11, a cloth covering member 10 which isv optionally and preferably secured to the lower or outer" faceof said body member 11 second body member 12, and; clamping member C which is: attached to the-upper or outer face of saidbodyi member 12.

Body member 11 is optionally and. preferably substantially planar and annular in shape. It: has. an outer upstanding and substantially cylindrical peripheral flange 13; Optionally and preferably, said body member 11 has an inner upstanding and substantially cylindrical flange 14 disposed about the periphery ofitscentralopere ing.. These flanges 13 and 14. are preferably concentric.

Body member 12- is preferably complementary to body member ll in shape, and therefore has respective outer and: innerdepending concentric flanges 15 and 16 which are respectively complementary: to respective flanges 13 and; 1.4.

I alsoprovide. said; body member 12 with a pair of lugs L which are mounted; On said upper or outer face of said body member 12.. andwhich are spaced from the opening in said body member 152'. and, preferably diametricall'y opposed. Each lugL preferably has a base which is integral with an opening in said body member 12-, sides which extend. upwardlyand slope toward each other, and atop which is integral with said sides; Said lug L is substant-ially convex, and. itpreferably has a hollow interior.

I provide each lug. L with an opening 17 in aside wall thereof; preferably near. its top, said. opening 17' being opposed to each other.

It will be apparent that each body member 11 and 12- may: be respectively formed, by relatively simple stamping and punching operations, since it is easy to form said openings and flanges. Also, lugs L may be readily formed, by stamping body member 12 outwardly in two places, and holes 17 may be punched out in the same operation.

I prefer to assemble body members .11 and 12 and. covering member 10 prior to assembling clamping member C. In Fig. 2, I show covering member 10-as a blank which is substantially circular with, a central opening. Preferably, radial slits 18 are formed in the center portion of member 10, said slits 13 communicating. with said opening.

I place covering member 10 against the outer or lower face of body member 11, with their centers alined. I fold the outer portion of said covering member 10 so that it abuts the-outer face of flange 13, extends over the top of said flange 13, and abuts the inner face thereof. This I is clearly shown in Fig. 3. I similarly fold the inner portion of said covering member 10 so that it abuts the inner face of flange 14, extends over the top of said flange 14, and abuts the outer face thereof. This is clearly shown in Figs. 35. The slits 18 aid in thisfolding operation.

I then interfit body members 11 and 12 With flange 15 positioned within flange 13 and in abutment with said body member 11, and with flange 16 positioned outside flange 14 and in abutment with said body member 12. These body members 11 and 12 may be frictionally interfitted, with the inner portion of covering member. 10 frictionally held between flanges 14 and 16, and with; the outer portion of covering-member.- 10 frictionally held be.-

3 tween flanges 13 andlS. Optionally, I can slightly vary the inclination of the various flanges 13, 14, 15 and 16 in order to be able easily to snap body members 11 and 12into their interfitting assembled position. Optionally, also, I can crimp the upper portion of flange'13 inwardly in order to fix members 11 and 12 in their assembled position.

I prefer to make covering member out of thin cloth, and to make body members 11 and 12 out of thin sheet metal. The assembled buckle body is therefore economical to manufacture.

Clamping member C is preferably formed by suitable bending operations out of a suitable length of stiff wire, and is spring-like and resilient.

This clamping member C has a connecting cross-arm 20, each end of which is connected to a leg 21. These legs 21 converge toward each other so that they substantially form a triangle with arm 20. The adjacent ends of legs 21 respectively meet the ends of leg extensions 22, which are relatively short and which normally substantially abut each other.

The other ends of these leg extensions 22 are respectively connected to clamping arms 23. These clamping arms 23 are preferably disposed in substantially the same straight line which is substantially parallel to said connecting arm 20. Arm 20, legs 21, leg extensions 22 and arms 23 are optionally positioned in substantially a common plane. However, I can incline legs 21 upwardly (considering clamping member C as in its position of Fig. 2) and bend leg extensions 22 downwardly, so that the above elements are not all in the same plane, or otherwise modify the construction.

The outer ends of said clamping arms 23 are respectively bent to form inclined arm portions 24, and the outer ends of these arm portions 24 are bent again to form opposed pivot arm portions 25.

Clamping member C may be readily assembled with the body of the buckle by bending legs 21 into an overlapping position so that the free ends of arm portions'25 may be placed in registration with the respective lug openings 17. Upon release of legs 21, the arm portions 25 extend through the openings 17 into the interiors of the respective lugs L. These arm portions 25 are freely turnable in the holes 17, whereby clamping member C may be turned about the axis of said arm portions 25. Arms 23 are radially displaced from the axis of said arm portions 25, and said arms 23 frictionally abut member 12 in one angular position of clamping member C.

The buckle may be assembled with a belt 30, which may be made of thin cloth or other suitable material. One end 31 of this belt 30 is looped around arm 20 and is secured to the main portion of belt 30. Whenbeltlsll is to be used, its free end portion 32 is extended between arms 23 and body member 12. This is clearly shown in Figs. 4 and 5. i

Fig. 4 shows clamping member C in an unclamping position in which belt end portion 32 may be freely moved between said arms 23 and said body member 12. In order to clamp belt 30 in place, said clamping member C is turned counterclockwise from its position of Fig. 4, through an intermediate position to its position of Fig. 5.

In this intermediate position of clamping member C, arm portions 24 are substantially disposed in a common cross-sectional plane, and belt 39 is, clamped with maximum tension. Arm 20 is positioned slightly above the. body of the buckle. This is an unstable position of said clamping member C.

When clamping member C is moved to its clamping position of Fig. 5, arm portions 24 are slightly inclined as shown in said Fig. 5, but belt 30 is firmly clamped against body member 12 by arms 23. Arm 20 also exerts a clamping force on said belt 30.

v I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of my invention and have indicated various changes, additions and omissions which can be made therein. Various other changes, additions and omissions may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention.

For example, when the buckle is finally assembled, legs 22 may be secured in their position of Fig. 2, by an encircling band or by other suitable means.

Also, it is possible to cover both faces of the buckle with cloth, by providing a second cloth blank similar to blank 10 or by other suitable means. In this case, I prefer to provide openings in the cloth on plate 12, through which lugs L respectively extend.

I can vary the shape of the buckle, provided that lugs L are formed on one face thereof and are adapted to be assembled with a clamp. I greatly prefer that said clamp be clamp C as described herein. While portions of plate 12 can be punched outwardly in the form of ears to receive clamp C, I greatly prefer to use lugs L to receive sametclamp C..

I claim:

1. A buckle comprising a hollow body which has a substantially planar lower wall, said wall being depressed at two spaced apart areas to form downwardly convex, hollow bearing lugs, each said lug being substantially cup-shaped and having a continuous upper peripheral edge and being attached to said wall along its entire upper perpheral edge, said lugs having bearing holes in respective opposed facing sides thereof, said holes being spaced from said Wall, and a clamping member, said clamping member being in the form of a single piece of spring wire and comprising a clamping portion for clamping material against said wall and a pair of aligned pivot pins extending laterally outwardly from the opposite sides of said clamping portion, said pins respectively extending turnably through said holes and having their freeends respectively positioned within the hollow spaces of the respective bearing lugs, said pins being substantially immovable toward and away from said wall, said clamping portion comprising a cross-arm to which one end of a belt is adapted to be secured, laterally extending and aligned pivot arms which are parallel to said cross-arm and which are respectively connected at their inner ends to the respective ends of said cross-arm, said pivot pins being parallel to said cross-arm and to said pivot-arms and outside the.common plane thereof, and connecting arms which respectively connect the inner ends of said pivot pins to the outer ends of said pivot arms, said clampingmember being reversibly turnable from an unclamping position through an intermediate position to a clamping position, said cross-arm and said pivot arms being spaced from said face of said body when said clamping member is in its unclamping.positionwhereby the other end of said belt is adapted to be extended between said pivot arms and said face, said connecting arms being disposed in a cross-sectional plane and said pivot arms clamping said beltagainstsaid face of said body and said crossarm being spaced from said face when said clamping member is in said intermediate position, said cross-arm clamping said belt against said face and said pivot arms exertingadecreased clamping force on saidbelt when said clamping member is in its clamping position.

V 2. A hollow buckle comprising upper and lower, substantially planar end discs, each said end disc having a substantially transverse peripheral flange, one. of said flanges fitting frictionally within the other flange to define the peripheral wall of said buckle, said lower end disc being depressed at two spaced apart areas to form downwardly convex, hollow bearing-lugs, each said lug' being substantially cup-shaped and having a continuous upper peripheral edge and being attached to said wall along its entire upper peripheral edge, said lugs having bearing holes in respective opposed facing sides thereof, said holes being spaced from said wall, and a clamping member, said clamping member being'in the form of a Single piece of spring wire and comprising a clamping portion for clamping material against said wall and a pair of aligned pivot pins extending laterally outwardly from the opposite sides of said clamping portion, said pins respectively extending turnably through said holes and having their free ends respectively positioned within the hollow spaces of the respective bearing lugs, said pins being substantially immovable toward and away from said wall, said clamping portion comprising a cross arm to which one end of a belt is adapted to be secured, laterally extending and aligned pivot arms which are respectively connected at their inner ends to the respective ends of said cross-arm, said pivot pins being parallel to said cross-arm and to said pivot-arms and outside the common plane thereof, and connecting arms which respectively connect the inner ends of said pivot pins to the outer ends of said pivot arms, said clamping member being reversibly turnable from an unclamping position through an intermediate position to a clamping position, said crossarm and said pivot arms being spaced from said face of said body when said clamping member is in its unclamping position whereby the other end of said belt is adapted to be extended between said pivot arms and said face, said connecting arms being disposed in a cross-sectional plane and said piv-ot arms clamping said belt against said face of said body and said cross-arm, being spaced from said face when said clamping member is in said intermediate position, said cross-arm clamping said belt against said face and said pivot arms exerting a decreased clamping force on said belt when said clamping member is in its clamping position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 257,122 Wood Apr. 25, 1882 436,262 Richards Sept. 9, 1890 698,561 Schucker Apr. 29, 1902 1,952,829 Weiss Mar. 27, 1934 1,972,582 Bernstein Sept. 4, 1934 2,046,807 Becker et al. July 7, 1936 

